Try to be civil or there will be war.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Mack has always been portrayed as being unsure about a lot of things happening within the team, so tracking how the sudden absence of his two closest friends in the group, Bobbi and Hunter, would impact him, was a smart touch. It was also nice to meet his brother, Ruben (Gaius Charles – Jason Street himself!), given how infrequent it is that the personal lives of the SHIELD team interweave into this show.
Plus... Mack made a shotgun axe! How cool is that?!
After a name drop by Daisy, the Watchdogs (the MCU version of an organization from the Captain America comics) were front and center here – a militant group who were striking back in the wake of superhuman-related tragedies. There was a lot going on in this episode that seemed to both reflect upon and build into the perception of superheroes and the Avengers leading into Civil War, as we got specific mentions of events the Watchdogs were upset over, including Blake (Titus Welliver) referencing the creation of Ultron.
Speaking of Blake, it was good to see him again – even though it was as a villain now. We didn’t quite know him enough to say it’s “out of character” though, and I did like the reminder that he was taken out right before the events of Captain America: Civil War, and thus awoke to find out he’d been working for a corrupt organization, which helped sour him so much.
It’s clear SHIELD is setting up their own version of Civil War now within the team, with one underlying question – should Inhumans be “cured”? – intermixed with concerns even within the team about how those with superpowers conduct themselves. It wasn’t done very subtly, but it was still pretty effective, as Mack couldn’t condone Daisy wanting to use her powers to threaten and coerce answers out of a possible Watchdog.
I also have to commend the way the Howard Stark-tech the Watchdogs used, causing implosions, made them a very credible threat. The opening, where one second it seemed like they covered an ATCU building in paint ball splats, and the next it was collapsing in on itself, made quite an impression.
Let me throw in yet another shout out for Elizabeth Henstridge’s acting, as she was so terrific bringing up her guilt over letting Andrew out and the deaths he caused in the aftermath – a scene it was very good to get, given it felt like that entire fact was a bit forgotten in the midseason finale and when the show returned. May also had a great moment here too, telling Simmons, “Don’t give me hope,” as the cure possibility was brought up.
I continue to find Lincoln a very bland presence, but I did like Coulson testing him here, especially when he noted Lincoln had joined the team without any vetting process previously. Him testing Lincoln by ordering him to kill Blake – knowing it was a hologram – was an interesting scenario as well.
Oh, and while it's not quite clear where Daredevil: Season 2 is, timeline-wise, compared to SHIELD's events right now, it was still fun to get the Hell's Kitchen gang war mention on the news!
The Verdict
This week’s SHIELD was a strong episode, with a lot of interesting character beats and follow-up on previous storylines. The way the show is building a Civil War scenario of its own, while also laying groundwork for the Civil War film (by showing how the actions of the Avengers have led to some very notable mistrust or outright resistance, in the form of the Watchdogs) is a lot to tackle at once, but some clunkiness aside, there was plenty that worked here.
For more on Agents of SHIELD, check out our new cast interviews, embedded throughout the review above.
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